Connector fittings such as that disclosed and claimed in the above identified copending U.S. Patent Application, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,846 issued Jan. 16, 1990, are one type of fitting to which the invention herein disclosed and claimed may be adapted. Another type of fitting is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,186-Proni. The locking arrangement of the invention may also be used with connector fittings which are essentially a nut threaded on a bolt so as to be axially immediately adjacent the bolt head, or two or more nuts threaded onto a bolt so that the nuts are axially immediately adjacent each other. While these illustrative constructions to which the invention may be adapted are typically hexagonal in cross section, the invention may also be applied to constructions having other cross section shapes, whether having multiple planar sections or being round, knurled, a combination of such shapes, or constructed in other manners.
All such fittings to which the locking feature of the invention is readily applied have common characteristics in that there are two or more parts which are relatively movable in a rotatable manner about a common axis, and these parts have a desired relatively fixed position which should be maintained during use. Some such fittings utilize self-locking threads, while others do not. In either instance, it is often desirable to lock the parts against such rotation.
Fittings to which the sealing feature of the invention is readily applied have nut portions with internal threads receiving main body portions having external threads, with both types of portions being adapted to receive rods, tubes, pipes or the like devices into or through them so that when the fitting portions are assembled for shipping, as well as when they are being handled, installed and employed in their final usages the internal threads and the external threads are protected against damage and contamination from exterior forces, atmospheres, debris and fluids, for example.